Sundown ranch named as an endangered historical site

The Mallet Ranch in Sundown was one of 13 sites Preservation Texas Inc. named Friday to its fifth-annual list of Texas' Most Endangered Historic Places.

The Mallet Ranch headquarters court, located about 45 miles southwest of Lubbock, is a rare, intact example of an early 20th-century West Texas ranch.

"I hope that this will bring more recognition to what I have been earnestly trying to prove -that this ranch headquarters has historic value," said Christena Stephens, executive director of the Mallet Ranch Development and Preservation Project.

Preservation Texas officials announced this year's list of Most Endangered Historic Places in Austin on Friday. February 8 of each year marks Preservation Day.

The 53,000-acre Mallet Ranch was established by David DeVitt and John Scharbauer in 1895.

The ranch, located in the center of Slaughter Oil Field - the second-largest oil field in Texas - contains five of the original buildings constructed at the ranch headquarters.

"Not only is it located in a very unique place ... it still has five of its original structures, and that is unheard of in that part of Texas, in the Lubbock area," Stephens said, adding she hopes to build an outdoor education area at the ranch.

The annual list of Texas' Most Endangered Places is produced by Preservation Texas Inc., a nonprofit group that raises money and awareness for saving historic buildings. The 2008 list includes Texas dance halls and 12 other specific sites in dire need of repair, ranging from an old school near Amarillo to a crumbling Spanish port near Bayside.

The preservation group raises money to identify historic property and find potential buyers and investors. The Texas Historical Commission also provides small grants and technical expertise to inspect property.